The subject matter herein relates generally to spacer assemblies for a cable backplane system.
Communication systems, such as network systems, servers, data centers, and the like, use large printed circuit boards, known as backplanes, to interconnect midplanes, daughtercards, line cards and/or switch cards. The communication systems use high speed differential connectors mounted to the backplane and high speed differential connectors mounted to the line cards and switch cards to transmit signals therebetween. The backplane interconnects the various connectors using traces along the circuit board.
As the density of the systems increase and requirements for high speed lines increase, the printed circuit boards continue to become larger and the signal integrity inherently degrades as the signals travel further along the entire channel. At least some systems have replaced the traditional backplanes with cable assemblies. However, packaging of large numbers of cable assemblies is difficult. Cable management is a limiting factor in such systems. Additionally, assembly of such systems with the large number of cables is problematic. For high density cable backplane systems, space is limited and the cable trays need to be stacked directly adjacent one another. Access to components of the cable tray, such as spacers that are used to mount cable assemblies to the backplane, may be difficult or even impossible, particularly in designs where individual cable assemblies with each cable tray must independently reference a specified datum within the chassis.
A need remains for a cable backplane system that may be assembled in a cost effective and reliable manner.